Everything You Need to Know about The Gifted Season 2

The trailer for The Gifted: Dawn of the Mutant Age promises the X-Men goodness we have been waiting for. Here’s everything you need to know.

The Gifted’s first season may have been patchy but it certainly scratched that X-Men itch fans were feeling, especially with a powerful finale that tied the show to the larger X-verse.

The trailer for the second season, dubbed Dawn of the Mutant Age, has fans even more excited. There are nods to even more elements of the X-verse making its way on screen plus the return of fan-favourite characters from season one.

There is a lot happening in this trailer to get excited about. Let us break it down for you.

1 – Polaris Isn’t Alright

All fire and brimstone now. Source: Fox

The trailer shows us a heavily pregnant Polaris who is clearly enjoying her leadership position within the Hellfire Club. In direct contrast to this is the fear and sorrow we see in Eclipse, who appears to be worried more because Polaris’ powers are out of control. We also see the effects of her power losing control. “I know her powers,” Eclipse appears to be telling the Struckers. “I know what they feel like.”

There is a reason for Polaris losing control of her powers though – there are several moments in the trailer where Polaris appears to be in excruciating pain, apparently caused by her baby. Not all is right with this child.

Whatever Polaris is dealing with physically, mentally she has definitely gone over to the dark side. There are mentions of a war that she is planning. Plus, her ominous voiceover: “We all have demons inside. It’s what you do with them that matters.” If that doesn’t sound like something Magneto would say, I don’t know what is!

2 – Thunderbird Has Some Issues To Deal With

Don’t quit your day job. Source: Fox

Following Dreamer’s murder in the penultimate episode of season one, and the subsequent dissolution of the Mutant Underground, it seems Thunderbird has taken a leaf out of Wolverine’s book in X-Men, and is moonlighting in the boxing ring to channel his rage.

He clearly continues to have ties with his fellow mutants, appearing at some important discussions, but the majority of his screen-time is in the boxing ring, beating people up.

This points to the fact that Thunderbird has still not come to terms with Dreamer’s unfortunate demise. In addition, he has also obviously cut romantic ties with Blink, who he was getting close to. Will Thunderbird’s emotional state compromise his ability to fight the good fight? One gets the feeling he won’t be such a goody-two-shoes this season.

3 – The Hellfire Club Are Solidly in Charge

These creepy siblings are back. Source: Fox

As if the Mutant Underground didn’t have enough problems, the Stepford Cuckoos – Esme, Phoebe and Sophia – are now integral figures in the inner circle of the Hellfire Club and under the direction of Reeva Payge, are channeling their attacks against the mutants who stand against them. Payge is a character to look out for as her comic book counterpart becomes the Black Queen, co-leader of the Club.

With Polaris by their side, the Cuckoos and the Hellfire Club are in an unbeatable position. They are also ably helped by their enforcer, Andy Strucker. It is even stated in the trailer that the good mutants just don’t have that kind of power on their side.

The Hellfire Club also seem to have a vested interest in Polaris’ baby, with the Stepford Cuckoos proclaiming that they are going to show us a ‘dawn of a new age’. How is Polaris and her child tied into this? If we know anything about the Cuckoos, if they’re interested, we should be very worried.

4 – The Real Underground

Picking a fight in your first appearance, not a good look. Source: Marvel Comics

We get our first glimpse of the Morlocks in this trailer, although it is quite brief. The show seems to be remaining faithful to the Morlocks’ comic origins, showing them in a subterranean location.

The Morlocks have technically appeared on screen before, in X-Men: The Last Stand, which has all but been written out of the X-Men cinematic timeline. Their appearance in that film was criticized for being too safe, a folly presumably not to be repeated on The Gifted.

In the X-Men comics, the Morlocks were a group of mutants who had been shunned by society for their extreme mutations. They were led by Callisto, before her defeat at the hands of Storm. The group featured well-known mutants, some of whom have also made live-action appearances, such as Caliban and Leech.

Beautiful Dreamer, the comic character on which Dreamer is based, was also a member of the Morlocks. There was no mention of Dreamer’s affiliation to the Morlocks in the first season, but that might change.

5 – The Struckers Are Getting into the Act

Dabbling in superpowers, are we? Source: Fox

Season one focused on the Strucker children, Andy and Lauren, learning to control their powers and that, together, they could become the unstoppable Fenris. By the end of the season, the two siblings had gone their separate ways, Andy choosing to go with Polaris, Laurel deciding to stay on with the Underground and her parents.

Andy has clearly become a kind of bodyguard/ soldier for the Hellfire Club. Though, we aren’t sure why his new allegiance prompted that strange hair colour.

While Andy is chilling with the bad guys, his sister Lauren is seen teaming up with Blink to rescue fellow mutants. The Strucker parents, Reed and Kate, are also trying to do their part in the mutant fight.

Interestingly, we get a glimpse of Reed Strucker being overtaken by some kind of mutant ability. Have the latent abilities his father ‘cured’ him from arisen again? Or has Reed taken a pharmaceutical stimulant to help out his mutant friends? We will have to wait and see.

6 – Special Effects Mania

More of this please. Source: CBR

The Gifted has clearly got an increase in its special effects budget, which is great for the show. The first season struggled a bit with poor effects, especially with regards to Eclipse, who was rarely allowed to showcase his laser abilities. The second season looks to have corrected that with Eclipse enjoying a fair amount of screen-time in the trailer showing off his powers.

Blink’s portals also look less tacky, which is a relief because she has the potential to be a very cool character who deserves more of the spotlight.

The trailer, in general, has a much more cinematic vibe to it with production values that easily rival its silver screen counterparts. This has always been a perk for shows that manage to get a second season, but the show will have to improve upon some of its weaker story-telling and acting flaws from season one to keep audiences happy.

As of now, though, what we have gleaned from the trailer has left us absolutely breathless and extremely impatient for the upcoming season. Keep an eye out on September 25 for The Gifted’s season two premiere on Fox.

A writer at heart with a fondness for well-told stories, Louis Skye is always looking for a way to escape the planet, whether through comic books, films, television, books or video games. She always has an eye out for the subversive and champions diversity in media.